Rail-joint.



No. 744,829. PATENTED NOV. 24, 1903. G. A. WEBER.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 18. 1903.

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No. 744,829. PATENTED NOV. 24, 1903 I G. A. WEBER.

RAIL JOINT.

v APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1 8, 1903.

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Patented November 24, 1903.

eEORcE A. WEBER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE W BER RAIL- WAY JOINT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A coR- PORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA."

RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,829, dated November 24, 1903-.

Application filed March 18. 1903. Serial No. 148,289. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. WEBER,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and

State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings.

My invention relates to rail-joints; and its objects are to improve upon the construction ofsuch joints and increase their efficiency, with simplicity of parts.

Further objects of my invention will hereinafter appear; and to these ends my invention consists of a rail-joint for carrying out the above objects embodying the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, substantially as hereinafter fully described and claimed in this specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view. of a rail-joint embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, and Fig. 4. is a transverse sectional View of a modification. p

I have illustrated my invention in connection with an insulated rail-joint; but I am not to be understood as limiting myself to this form of joint, as my invention is equally applicable to uninsulated joints and may of course be utilized in such connection when desired.

Referring to the drawings, A and B represent the ends of adjacent rail-sections which are connected to each other and insulated by means of my improved joint.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 a tie-plate G is shown upon the tieD, while the rail-chairs E are supported upon the tie-plate. The chairs consist of the base portions F and the uprights or bolt-plates G, and in this instance the chairs are arranged with their base portions F beneath the bases H of the rails. Each rail-chair is provided with a fillet or spikingrib I, and between the bases H of the rails and the bases F of the chairs is placed the insulation J, which may be of any suitable material. Between the webs K of the rails and the blocks L of insulating material, shown in this instance as blocks of wood, these blocks, as shown, extending across the joint, while suitable bolts 0, having the heads P and nuts Q, extend through the parts of the joint and secure the whole together. Metallic washers R, as shown, are arranged upon the bolts 0 and beneath the heads P and the. nuts Q,while insulating-washers S, of suitable material, are placed between the washers R and the uprights G of the rail-chairs. Insulating-sleeves 'I are arranged, as usual, over the bolts 0 to insulate the same from the uprights G of the rail-chairs.

One of the objects of myinvention is to obviate the forming of a fulcrum at the bottom of the uprights G and between the upright and the block L when the nuts Q are tightened to tighten up the joint. Suitable means may be provided for carrying out this object; but in this instance I have overcome this (lifficulty by beveling the blocks L at their lower sides, as shown, the blocks being provided with beveled portions at U, so that they do not bear upon the inside of the lower portions of the uprights G. By thus beveling the blocks all pressure is removed at this point and an even pressure is obtained all through the blocks L when the joint is tightened up. By beveling the blocks L as shown the hug or pressure upon the bases H of the rails is increased when the joint is tightened up. If a fulcrum is permitted to be formed between the lower edges of the blocks L and the inside of the lower portions of the up rights G of the rail-chairs, a distortion of the rail-joint takes place when the same is tightened up, which is avoided by the construction described. It will furthermore be seen that one of the rail-chairs E is secured to the tie-plate O by suitable means, shown as the rivets V, and since the tie-plate O is secured to the tie by the spikes it will be seen that a firm and secure joint is obtained, and by the construction described when the joint is tightened up the chair E which is not secured to the tie-plate C may have movement relatively to the other chair E, which construction I have found to produce better results than those instances in which both chairs before.

are movable relatively to the tie and tie-plate. If desired, the insulating material J beneath the bases H of the rails may be turned upwardly at each end to aid in securing the insulation firmly in position, and insulating material X may also be inserted between the ends of the rails.

In the construction shown in Fig. 4 the railchairs a and b, as shown, are of different sizes and of different thickness of metal, the rail-chair I) being of lighter material than that of the chair a, and the base 0 of the chair b is in this instance arranged on top of the base (1 of the chair a. One of the chairs, as a, is made of thicker material to geta strong base for spiking, while the other chair I) is made of lighter material because its function is to brace the parts of the joint. The uprights e andfof the chairs, as shown, are bent or sprung inwardly, and each chair is provided with the fillet or spiking-rib g, as The wooden blocks L, as shown, are beveled at U, and insulating material J is inserted beneath the bases H of the rails. The bolts 0 are provided with beads P, in this instance formed at an angle to the shanks of the bolts, while suitable metallic washers R and insulating-washers S are arranged adjacent the heads of the bolts and the nuts Q. Insulating-sleeves T insulate the bolts from the uprights of the rail-chairs, and,as shown, a wedge-shaped metallic block h is inserted between the upright f of the rail-chair b and the insulating-washer S in order to enable the nut Q to be operated.

In both instances of my invention suitable spikes 't' secure the joint to the tie, and in Fig. 4. insulating-sleevesj are shown to insulate the shanks of the bolts from the Webs K of the rails.

Obviously some features of my invention may be used without others,'and my invention may be embodied in widely-varying forms.

Therefore, without limiting myself to the construction shown and described, nor enumerating equivalents, I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. An insulated rail-joint comprising the meeting ends of rails supported upon railchairs having uprights, insulating material between the base of at least one of the rails, insulating-blocks arranged between the webs of the rails and the uprights, said blocks being constructed to bear against the uprights at their upper portions without bearing thereon at their lower portions, and bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, said bolts being insulated from the upright of the railchairs and from the webs of the rails bysuitable insulating washers and sleeves, the construction of the joint being such that formation of a fulcrum is avoided at the lower portions of the uprights of the rail-chairs and between said uprights aud the insulating-blocks, for substantially the purposes set forth.

2. An insulated rail-joint comprising the meeting ends of rails supported upon railchairs having uprights, insulating material beneath the base of at least one of the rails, insulating-blocks arranged between the webs of the rails and the uprights, said blocks being beveled at their lower edges on their faces bearing against the uprights, and bolts for secu ring the parts of the joint together, said bolts being insulated from the uprights of the rail-chairs and from the webs of the rails by suitable insulating washers and sleeves, the construction of the joint being such that the formation of a fulcrum is avoided at the lower portions of the uprights between the uprights and the insulatingblocks, for substantially the purposes set forth.

3. An insulated rail-joint comprising the meeting ends of rails supported upon .railchairs of different weights of material, the base of the chair of lighter material being arranged upon the base of the chair of heavier material, insulating material beneath the base of at least one of the rails, insulatingblocks arranged beneath the webs of the rails and the uprights of the rail-chairs, and bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, said boltsbeing insulated from the uprights of the rail-chairs and from the webs of the rails by suitableinsulating washers and sleeves, for substantially the purposes set forth.

4. An insulated rail-joint comprising the meeting ends of rails supported upon railchairs of different weights of material, the base of the chair of lighter material being arranged upon the base of the chair of heavier material, insulation beneath the base of at least one of the rails, insulating-blocks arranged between the webs of the rails and the uprights of the rail-chairs, said blocks being beveled at their lower edges on their faces bearing against the uprights, and bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, said bolts being insulated from the uprights of the rail-chairs and the webs of the rails of suitable insulating washers and sleeves, for substautially the purposes set forth.

5. An insulated rail-joint comprising the meeting ends of rails supported upon railchairs of different weights of material, the base of the chair of lighter material being arranged upon the base of the chair of heavier material, the uprights of the rail-chairs being bent inwardly toward each other, insulating material arranged beneath the base of at least one of the rails, insulating-blocks between the webs of the rails and the uprights of the rail-chairs, said blocks being beveled at their'lower edges on their faces bearing against the uprights, and bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, said bolts being insulated from the uprights of the railchairs and from the webs of the rails by insulating washers and sleeves, suitable provision being afiorded for enabling the nuts of the bolts to be tightened to tighten the joint, for substantially the purposesset forth.

6. An insulated rail-joint comprising the meeting ends of rails supported upon rail- IIO chairs of different weight of material, the base of one chair being arranged upon the base of the other chair, insulating-blocks arranged between the webs of the rails and the uprights of the rail-chairs, insulated bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, and spikes passing through the base of the chair of heavier material for securing the joint to the ties, for substantially the'purposes set forth.

7. An insulated rail-joint comprising the meeting ends of rails supported upon railchairs of different weights of material, the base of one chair being arranged upon the base of the other chair, insulating-blocks arranged between the webs of the rails and the uprights of the rail-chairs, said blocks being beveled at their lower edges on their faces bearing against the uprights, and insulated bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, whereby the formation of a fulcrum is avoided at the lower portions of the uprights between the uprights and the blocks, for substantially the purposes set forth.

rail-chairs, insulated bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, the heads of the bolts being formed at an angle to the shanks to conform to the angle of the upright of one chair, wedge-shaped washers to afford provision for tightening the nuts of the bolts, and' spikes passing through the base of the chair of heavier material for securing the joint to the ties, for substantially the purposes set forth.

9. An insulated rail-joint, comprising the meeting ends of rails, opposing bolt-plates at each side of the joint, insulating-blocks between the bolt-plates and webs of the rails, said blocks being constructed to bear against the bolt-plates at their upper portions without bearing thereon at their lower portions, whereby the formation of a fulcrum is avoided at the lower portions of the bolt-plates between the blocks and bolt-plates, and insulated bolts for securing the parts of the joint together, for substantially the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE A. WEBER.

Witnesses:

A. L. OBRIEN, E. VAN ZANDT. 

